Only 6 More Sleeps to Christmas!!

Here's William with his rendition of "Jingle Bells"......never work with animals or children!

Ho Ho (Ho)!!

Well William has seen lots of Father Christmas this year and although a little hesitant, seems quite in awe of him. He just about got up the courage to sit on his lap for long enough to get a photo and a present and then was quite glad to get back to mum.

He also saw Santa at the Daycare Christmas party where he got another present after waiting so patiently. He has grasped the idea that "Ho Ho" will bring him presents at Christmas and seems very excited. He also loves the lights that everyone puts up on their houses. We went to see a place last night and he cried when we left because he wanted to see more! Check out the Gallery under December for pictures of this ONE house - the decorations covered about an acre!

1, 2, 3...

So proud and amazed with William today. While we were in a store looking around, totally umprompted, he walked along a row of bikes and counted them all by himself, "..one, two, three, four...", all the way to ten. The first time I've heard him do this correctly and in the right order, or even close to ten. I'm just so proud he knows how many bikes daddy wants!

Camping - Coolum Beach, Sunshine Coast

We headed up the coast on Friday afternoon and by 3pm we were setting up camp at the campsite right next to the beach at Coolum (above). Coolum is a small (but growing) seaside town, with a few cafes, shops and restaurants along the front. It wasn't long before our friends Mark & Michelle turned up, together with a few other families to join our little group. There were kids aged 2.5 to 12, so lots of friends for William to make. Fish and chips for dinner on Friday night from the local chippy, then put the kids to sleep and the adults sat up for a while drinking and talking into the night. Bright and early (5.30am) the next morning, William was up and raring to go, so we all took a stroll along the beach before a breakfast of bacon and egg sandwiches. We went down to the beach again after breakfast, before it got too hot (a predicted 30+ degrees). It took a while for William to get used to the breakers, but after a while he was very happy to stand in the shallows jumping the continuous waves. We eventually all fell asleep in a very warm tent over lunchtime. ut for dinner at the local pub that evening and the kids ran around the playground and games room till they were fit to drop. Much drinking, eating and talking later, we settled down for the night. Andrew was up with the larks Sunday morning to take a bike ride along the coast up to Noosa and was back before breakfast. Unfortunately we had to pack up by 10am, so some friends took all the kids down to the beach so we could concentrate and returned a weary William just before 10.30. The day was just beginning, so we drove to Noosa for lunch with some friends who live overlooking the water. It was a lovely, but exhausting weekend!

The deck is done!

Andrew completed our pool deck on Friday and is now taking a well-deserved breather.

Wedding

Our friends, Rex & Lindsay got married last weekend. It was a lovely day spent on Stradbroke Island, just off the coast of Brisbane. The ceremony took place in an open-sided small chapel right on the beach, followed by dinner and dancing. William had a great day and we all enjoyed watching him dancing till 10pm when he was ready to drop.

Another one on the way!!

Yes, we can confirm we have another baby on the way. Apologies for the slight shock caused to those we have not managed to speak to yet! I am 14 weeks now and due on 6 May, just three weeks before William turns 3 (talk about timing!). Here's my scan at 12.5 weeks - 7.5cm long. I am feeling well - what I lack in morning sickness I make up for in tiredness (I know which I'd rather!).

William says he's happy for us to "get" a baby and is requesting a girl....well, only time will tell.

Hallo'ween

The spooks were out last night and William was well prepared with his wizard costume. Unfortunately, he only wanted to wear it for about 5 minutes and then refused! Still, we got some photos and he collected many goodies from the neighbours.

The kids had a healthy dose of sugar and the adults a healthy dose of alcohol, before heading in for (a late) dinner. William was so exhausted, he was ASKING to go to bed. We'd been swimming earlier in the day and also to a free local festival in the afternoon, so no wonder......

Me and William in the swimming pool at Noosa.



William showing off his counting skills.

Swimming

Yesterday was the first day this year I'd managed to pull myself together and swim in the pool. The water was still cold but not as bad as I thought. Hopefully now (or when I finish the deck) we can get in 5 to 6 good months of enjoyment around the pool. I think this Summer's going to be a hot one so we'll need it. I take William for his first swimming lesson next week. Should be fun!

A day at the Gold Coast

William and I decided to get out of Andrew's way for the day last Sunday and go to the Gold Coast to visit my friend Sam. She lives about a five minute drive from the beach, so we took a picnic and bucket & spade and spent a pleasant (if not slightly wind-swept!) couple of hours on the beach. William amused himself for ages digging holes in the sand and filling them up with water, before jumping up and down in them.

Update

I'm learning how to use the blog again after a significant absence. I'll attempt to update it a bit more often than every quarter!
We've had a good week - William and I went to the beach on Sunday with a neighbour and her son. The sun was shining, but it was very windy - excellent weather for kite flying as we discovered. The boys had a great time and William fell asleep very soon after we got back in the car to head home. Andrew stayed home so he could continue work on the pool deck he's building (by himself). It's slow going, but looking very sturdy so far. We have workmen coming in later this week to start paving around the pool too - all in time for the summer season. They'll also be rendering our external garden walls which are in dire need of attention. So hopefully will be able to post up a picture of our "facelift" in a week or two.
That's all for now.....I will write again soon!
Lisa

Williams 2nd Birthday Party

I think that was a success. Everyone ate too much sugar and played for hours. Even though he's not 2 for a couple of days, Williams party was this weekend and themed 'Shrek'; Shrek cakes, shrek nibbles, swamp sludge, donkey poo (they were gorgeous - and I probably ate too many of them) and a lovely sponge Shrek dragon birthday cake breathing fire. We decided to have only a few children around and all of Williams age and I think this worked really well. We all had to stay inside as the weather was still poor outside though I don't think anyone was too worried. William and the other kids just kept going and going and going....

Where's the Ball?

Funny?

Camping

As we had no kitchen; everything had been ripped out ready for all the new stuff and the weather was looking good, and on the spur of the moment we decided to go camping. It was our first chance to try out our new Homestead tent - sleeps nine for the 3 of us (don't ask! - should not let Lisa loose with a credit card).

We decided to go North up the Sunshine Coast to Cotton Tree. We've been there before, a pretty spot nestled between a river and the sea. Our plot was within spitting distance of the sand & water, we couldn't have been closer to the beach if we had tried. The weather was amazing which made hot work of putting up the tent and I'd like to thank William for all his help with the pegs and falling of the guy ropes.

Can't really say much more other than it was a fantastic couple of days, the weather seemed a lot hotter than the broadcast temperature of 28 degrees. And it was just great to spent time relaxing, splashing around and building sand castles, even if they did only last a few seconds before being kicked to dust.

It'll have to be longer next time...

My 40th

What a fantastic birthday I've had - I can't imagine it being any better. Firstly I'd like to say a big thank you to everyone who has been involved and been so generous; I have really been made to feel special for the last few days and I've loved every minute of it. And of course most of this would never have been possible without the time and effort Lisa has devoted in organising everything; a heartfelt thank you and I don't think I have the vocablary to describe how wonderful she is. (Can't forget to say how well behaved William has been especially as we left him to his own devices while we rushed around organising, tidying and preparing the house for the party yesterday.)

My 40th birthday was on Thursday and we decided to have a quiet one and open my cards & presents over a curry in the evening. The weather was perfect and we sat outside on the candle lit deck under a clear sky with the stars munching nan and sweating away to a Korma & Tikka Masala. A day to recover before Saturday and my big fancy dress party.

It was on Lisa's advice that I didn't go Mountain Biking as normal on Saturday morning as she had organised a surprise for me, so we headed down towards the Gold Coast. And as we neared the destination I had to put on a mask (thankfully I wasn't driving!) to keep the suspense going. On arriving, totally disorientated I was still none the wiser even in the carpark. Though it slowly became clear, on the horizon in the distance 2 big balls - Zorbing. Cool!

The first was a strapped in ride... no trouble.



And the second, the full Wash Cycle, a free ride with the toilet water.

We rushed home to prepare everything for this evenings party. Luckily we were reasonably organised as there were a few mishaps in the preparation. Firstly the meat from the butchers didn't fit on our rotisserie and we had to use garden string to re-tie it into some usable shape. Next the gas ran out on the barbie after only an hour or so of cooking (3.5 hrs left to go) and then finally as we were changing into our costumes, the first guests began to arrive.

After a Jim Beam or two everything was fine and we relaxed. Everyone arrived and most of them in costume. The food was going well, the meat looked and smelt great. From this point on I can't remember too much except the food was delicious and plentyful, my wonderful birthday cake was a surprise and the evening was great fun especially when all the boys started playing bowls on the Wii late into the night. Drunken games are always fun.

I'll let the pictures below tell the story...

Friendly Encounter

The other night we heard a thunderous screechy noise outside so we went out to investigate. Purdey turned up looking sheepish so we chucked her inside thinking she was chasing a bat or something. Look what turned up. He was a prime specimen, I think he's a Green Tree Frog.

Bad Hair Days

Just don't know what to do with it these days.